REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (March 4, 2024) – Annalyn Lopez has worked for the most senior members of the U.S. Army but the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center is right where she wants to be.
Lopez is a management analyst for the Aeroflight Dynamics branch that sits within the Center’s Moffett Field, California location. As a former military spouse, she has lived all over the world, working in different civil servant roles as her husband moved assignments, one of those being the executive assistant to the deputy commanding general for U.S. Army Japan. Lopez came to AvMC after serving as executive assistant to the deputy commanding general at the U.S. Army Medical Command, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.
After so many different roles within the Army, some within its highest echelons, Lopez said that her position with AvMC is not just a career, but a blessing in her life.
“I work with a lot of smart people,” Lopez said. “I love my job. I always look forward to the new challenges every day.”
It was a longing for a different life that brought Lopez to the United States in her early twenties. The Philippines native was living in Guam, but “I was bored on the island,” she said.
Lopez moved to Oak Harbor, Washington, where she obtained an associate degree from Skagit Valley College. She spent the next decades traveling the world with her husband for his Naval career, while raising two sons. She said she always had plans to continue her education, but the demands of career and family won out.
After roles as a school registrar in Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Camp Zama High School in Japan, and then a position the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lopez took the position at U.S. Army Japan. From there she returned to the States and started her role at MEDCOM. It was high pressure, she said, in a position that often necessitated her communicating with the Pentagon.
“It was a job where you had to be very precise when you are coordinating with everyone from protocol officers to the Chief of Staff of the Army,” she shared.
Living in the Texas heat, Lopez started to envision returning to California, and when the AvMC role opened, she took her chance. After a career that was uprooted every few years – a universal challenge for military spouses – Lopez has relished putting down roots for the last 12 years, especially with a team like the one at Moffett Field. A good boss can make or break a job, and Lopez gives a lot of credit to hers, division chief Tom Maier, for his leadership.
But even beyond the positive environment, Lopez said that the leadership team is also concerned about championing their people and keeping an eye out for new opportunities for them, which is exactly what Army Senior Research Scientist Dr. Mahendra Bhagwat did for Lopez when he saw an open position in another Army command where she would excel. He knew that they would be losing a valuable employee, but was more concerned with her career growth, she said.
After such a multi-layered civil servant career, Lopez shared some advice for those just starting out in federal service, whether they are military spouses or simply new to the workforce.
“Grab every opportunity that you can,” Lopez recommended. “Never stop learning.”
--
The DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the Army’s research and development focal point for advanced technology in aviation and missile systems. It is part of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. AvMC is responsible for delivering collaborative and innovative aviation and missile capabilities for responsive and cost-effective research, development and life cycle engineering solutions, as required by the Army’s strategic priorities and support to its Cross-Functional Teams.
Social Sharing